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" Imagine a mining disaster in 2012: In the aftermath of an explosion, a group of miners are trapped deep underground. Following established procedures they are hunkered down in a refuge chamber, which means they have air, water and food for a few days. The exit may be blocked, and venturing out means facing poisonous gases, explosive vapor and unsafe tunnels. Their best chance is to stay put and wait for help\u2014but the clock is ticking.  Rescue teams are painfully slow, forced to move at crawling pace by the need for extreme caution. Sometimes survivors die before help reaches them. But this time the rescuers have help, in the form of a mine rescue robot called Gemini Scout.  Gemini is specifically designed for this environment and trundles swiftly on its caterpillar tracks. About four feet long and two wide, it has a camera turret raised high above the body, with an infrared camera which sees through smoke and dust. Gemini&amp;#039;s body is in two parts with a flexible joint in the middle, allowing it to scramble up rough slopes and negotiate tight corners which would foil other bots of similar size. The mine has safety hatches called man doors at intervals with awkward lips, but the flexible Gemini can get through even when they are a foot off the ground.  Guided by remote control, Gemini goes well ahead of its handlers, its gas sensors providing warning of toxic fumes or explosive gases. It allows the rescuers to assess the walls and roofs in damaged tunnels before setting foot in them.  Gemini Scout has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories, with funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The first users will be the mine rescue teams of the Mine Safety and Health Administration   Project manager Jon Salton explains how Gemini&amp;#039;s camera turret with its pan-and-tilt mount provides an all-round view of the entire machine. This aids situational awareness and makes it easier to free the machine if it gets stuck. The infrared camera can spot the body heat of survivors; the turret also has a video camera, with headlights to provide lighting. There are fixed front and rear-facing cameras on the body and it can drive in either direction.  Radio control is challenging underground, since the signal can easily be lost after the machine goes around corners. So as well as a dual-frequency radio, which automatically picks the wavelength with best reception, Gemini also has an optional fiber-optic control cable which automatically spools out behind it.  When Gemini reaches survivors, the rescuers can talk to them via built-in speakers and microphone. The robot could guide them to safety, but it can also provide more immediate assistance in the form of oxygen packs, water, medical supplies or other essentials. The size also means Gemini has the potential to be developed into a rescue machine capable of carrying or dragging people to safety.  As with any electrically powered device there is the risk of sparks, a serious hazard in a potentially explosive atmosphere.  &amp;quot;We haven&amp;#039;t designed the electronics of the vehicle to be spark-free,&amp;quot; says Salton. &amp;quot;Instead, we&amp;#039;ve housed all of the electronics in explosion-proof housings that are specially designed to withstand an internal explosion if one occurs.&amp;quot;  The design of these housings ensures that if such an internal explosion does occur, the flame front will be extinguished so it will not spread. The robot might suffer damage, but it will not trigger a larger explosion and endanger human life.   The choice of tracks might seem an unusual one for a robot which has to cope with obstacles. These days there are high-mobility with robots with legs, snake-like machines and even ones that can stick to walls. But it&amp;#039;s all a question of scalability, Salton says. Gemini can wade through eighteen inches of water without losing its way, and is big enough to carry a useful payload or rescue a person. It&amp;#039;s simply not possible to scale up snakes or wall-climbers to that size.  However, more exotic designs might work alongside Gemini in the scouting role. NIOSH are also evaluating the Multi-Dimensional Mobility Robot, a robot snake being developed by Raytheon.  &amp;quot;The robot for mines applications is designed to enter a collapsed mine primarily through a five-inch drill hole, because in many situations the entry is blocked,&amp;quot; says Dr. Stephen Jacobsen of Raytheon Sarcos. Though more limited than Gemini in other respects, this unique ability would be a useful asset in some situations.  Gemini Scout will be evaluated through September by NIOSH, with a decision expected early next year. If the evaluation is successful, and if it gets safety certification to operate in hazardous environments, the robot could be fielded in numbers by the end of 2011.  Looking further forward, Salton believes that similar robots would be handy for all sorts of first responders, from firefighters to rescuers in the aftermath of earthquakes. Its ability to get through a hazardous, obstacle-strewn environment, find survivors and deliver help will make Gemini Scout and its relatives a welcome sight in any rescue operation.   cellpadding=&amp;quot;0&amp;quot; cellspacing=&amp;quot;0&amp;quot;&amp;amp;gt;  CONTINUED: Buried Alive: PM Investigates &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6095/next-gen-coal-mining-rescue-robot/>